Cemented carbides have been intensively used as cutting tool through their high hardness, high fracture toughness and high wear resistance. A considerable amount of works has been developed in order to improve the mechanical properties of alternate cemented carbide systems.
This work has the purpose to reports the first results obtained to WC-Co reinforced with 5 wt.% NbC. The mixture of powders was hot-pressed at 1250 °C in a inert atmosphere. Hardness and fracture toughness were carried out in a Vickers hardness testing machine. The results have showed that the addition of niobium carbide improves the hardness of tungsten carbide and inhibits the WCgrain growth.